Janice Taylor is a force to be reckoned with.
In just nine years, the Kelowna resident went from Googling 乌鸦传媒渉ow to start a tech company乌鸦传媒� to being the force behind an app that helps young people safely transition to online life. That, in turn, has sent her jet setting across the U.S. and influencing change in a male dominated industry.
Take this month for example 乌鸦传媒� Taylor brought Mazu Family to meetings in San Fransisco and New York. Then she went to LA to represent Canada in a Women in Tech event at the Canadian consulate, with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau. Trudeau had a number of U.S. speaking engagements that week, pitching Canadian globalism and the country乌鸦传媒檚 new fast-track visa as reasons why Silicon Valley companies should consider Canada as a place to do business and spend money.
Canada is offering a two-week, fast-track employment permit for certain workers, dubbed the 乌鸦传媒済lobal skills strategy visa.乌鸦传媒�
Government-sponsored billboards in Silicon Valley pitch: 乌鸦传媒淗1-B Problems? Pivot to Canada.乌鸦传媒�
Taylor already sees the benefit of working in Canadian tech.
乌鸦传媒淎ll my 24 staff is in Kelowna and I live there and my children go to school there,乌鸦传媒� she said.
Being in transit as often as she is is a significant undertaking, but the work is valuable and that fuels her.
Mazu is a free app that gives kids, and their families, a forum to communicate on. Through it they can focus on their favourite sports teams and specific interests. For kids to use the app they have to have a parent乌鸦传媒檚 approval and potentially interaction.
It乌鸦传媒檚 what Taylor refers to as a 乌鸦传媒渄igital village.乌鸦传媒�
乌鸦传媒淲e don乌鸦传媒檛 use 乌鸦传媒榣ike乌鸦传媒� buttons, we don乌鸦传媒檛 follow things,乌鸦传媒� she said, explaining that its the antithesis of traditional social media, which preys on the desire to be liked, validated, and rewarded.
乌鸦传媒淭he content in our digital village is tagged with our core values. We filter so there is no bad content or bad language.乌鸦传媒�
There was such a gap in the online world when she started the app, that it乌鸦传媒檚 turned heads and Taylor has managed to raise $7 million through angel investors to get it off the ground.
And the idea has fuelled her as she worked to navigate a male dominated industry.
乌鸦传媒淚f you look at the statistics today, only five per cent of all tech companies are run by women,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淚n the City of Kelowna there are only two other female tech company founders and they乌鸦传媒檙e co-founders.乌鸦传媒�
Getting to the top of a male dominated industry has been a slog and Taylor has some war stories.
乌鸦传媒淚乌鸦传媒檝e had men ask, 乌鸦传媒榗an I touch your hair,乌鸦传媒檕r 乌鸦传媒榶our hair is distracting,乌鸦传媒� 乌鸦传媒榳ho takes care of your kids when you travel乌鸦传媒� and 乌鸦传媒榓re you planning to have another baby?乌鸦传媒� she said.
What乌鸦传媒檚 been the worst, however, is those who doubt she has the expertise on the issues she乌鸦传媒檚 trying to address through the app, to be in the industry.
乌鸦传媒� It astounds me. I have 14 year old on social media, I have friends, we talk 乌鸦传媒� as if I won乌鸦传媒檛 understand this population,乌鸦传媒� she said. 乌鸦传媒淚n the last two years there乌鸦传媒檚 been a 50 per cent increase in girl suicide. It乌鸦传媒檚 the first time in history that girls are killing themselves more than boys. Who better to solve that problem than a mother?乌鸦传媒�
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